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Doug Pomorski doesn't need scientific data to tell him that Lake Erie's average water level is down more than a foot compared with 2011.

He sees it every day.

"You can see the water levels have dropped," said Pomorski, director of operations and harbor master for the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority.

"You can see it just in a normal course of operations at the port, even with the public (boat) launch ramps we operate," Pomorski said. "Boaters have to be a little more careful going into certain areas throughout Presque Isle Bay, because there's not as much depth as there's been in the past."

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, Lake Erie's average water level of 570.34 feet above sea level in October, the latest figure available, is down more than 14 inches from 2011.

Further, October's average water level was down more than 4 inches from September, when the lake's average water level was 570.69 feet above sea level, NOAA data shows.

Federal officials suspect drought and evaporation are key causes.

Keith Kompoltowicz, a hydrologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit district office, said all of the Great Lakes were below their long-term averages for October and are lower than a year ago because of an unusual lack of snow last winter and a dry, hot summer.

He added that a wetter-than-usual fall, which included Superstorm Sandy, has only made a slight difference.

Low water levels have been a concern throughout the Great Lakes since they began dropping in the late 1990s. They cut into cargo shippers' profits by forcing them to carry lighter loads, cause shallower water in marinas, dry up wetlands, and cause vegetation to grow on beaches.

Jeff Thorson, a dispatcher with Erie's Lakeshore Towing Service Inc., told the Erie Times-News in October that the business responded to more than the usual number of calls this year for boats going aground, with sandbars being more exposed.

Pomorski said that marinas and yacht clubs throughout the area will likely need to do additional dredging because of the lower lake levels.

"You've got to excavate some of the sediment out so you can keep operating," Pomorski said.